When you know your identity thief
Over at Get Rich Slowly, a reader poses a problem: what to do when a family member steals your identity by opening credit cards in your name?
Unfortunately the temptation is probably very very great. Your relatives --- your parents, your siblings, your own children --- have access to both your personal data and your mailbox.
And you're left holding the bill ... and the risk on your credit report ... and a whole lot of family drama.
But what to do when you discover it? Do you file a police report? The commenters say this is the only way to prove to credit card companies that any outstanding debt is not yours -- pointing to advice from the Identity Theft Resource Center.
The best way to to protect yourself is to stop this kind of activity before things get out of hand.
Remember in Maryland you can get two free credit reports annually from each of the three credit reporting bureaus. That means you can space out each request and check one every two months. Always investigate new accounts that you haven't opened.
